A judge has given the green light to a $11 million settlement in a class action against retirement village provider Aveo, but reserved his decision about whether a contested amount of over $1 million should go to group members or the law firm that brought the case.
A union has partially won a bid to exclude thousands of current and former members from a class action against McDonald’s, after losing a challenge that sought to ban all Fair Work group proceedings.
Wealth manager E&P Financial Group has agreed to a $16 million settlement in a class action by Dixon Advisory clients who allege they suffered financial loss when the firm and its directors encouraged the purchase of high risk securities.
A judge has signed off on a $18.5 million settlement in a six-year-old shareholder class action against Deloitte over its audits of collapsed construction group Hastie, saying the amount might be “disappointing” to group members but reflected the risks of going to trial.
A judge asked to approve an $11 million settlement in a class action against retirement village provider Aveo is considering a proposal by court-appointed contradictors to set aside a percentage of the sum for group members, which would leave the law firm running the case $2 million out of pocket.
The Full Federal Court has answered a question vexing the court for the past four years, ruling that class action judges have the power to make common fund orders at settlement that allow litigation funders to reap a percentage commission beyond their contractual entitlement.
The Full Federal Court’s finding that the High Court did not extinguish the power of judges to make common fund orders on approval of class action settlements is the latest milestone in the evolution of Australian class action jurisprudence, experts say.
A judge has declined a union’s bid to throw out an employee class action against McDonald’s after the Full Federal Court confirmed that employee class actions are not precluded by the Fair Work Act.
The future of a competition class action against AGL Energy is in doubt after being abandoned by its funder, despite evading the energy supplier’s bid to dismiss the case.
With bated breath class action litigators and funders have waited for this day, when the Full Federal Court decides the question of power to make common fund orders at settlement. They aren’t the final arbiters, but the judges’ ruling may be no less important for that.